Breaking the silence: a monument to the abolition of slavery and the slave trade

Subsequent to the United Nations declaration of the year 1995 as the 'International Year of Tolerance', the World Trade Organization and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced their combined objective to promote and present tangible evidence of the heritage bequeathed by slavery and the slave trade in territories where it occurred. This concept was named the 'UNESCO Slave Route Project'.

The major inspiration behind this project has been the French historian, Jean-Michel Deveau, who said that the Transatlantic Slave Trade was the greatest human tragedy in history because of the extent and time it lasted. This was a tragedy which violently uprooted tens of millions of Africans from their homeland to be transplanted in the Americas and the West Indies to fuel the economy of the imperialist powers during the 18th century. This tragedy has long been glossed over in history books and as Noble Peace Prize Laureate, Elie Wiesel, stated 'The executioner always kills twice - the second time with his silence'.

As a contribution to the Slave Route Project, the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis, with the support of UNESCO, has embarked on a project to erect a monument in Independence Square to depict the resistance to, and defeat of the evil system of slavery. This site, with its rich and powerful history, is the appropriate place to erect this monument. Originally used as a slave market, Independence Square became the central meeting point where scores of uprooted Africans were transplanted as slaves and auctioned.

The objectives of the monument are:

• To raise the consciousness of Kittitians about their history and the importance of slavery and its abolition.
• To create a greater sense of awareness and appreciation of their national identity and heritage.
• To present an additional cultural and historic attraction in Basseterre.
• To have Independence Square designated by UNESCO as a Peace Space and a Place of Memory.

Vesta Southwell of the St. Kitts Department of Tourism and a member of the project committee emphasizes that 'Trying to implement this project has magnified its importance and timeliness, in my opinion. It suggests to me that slavery, or at least the environment that breeds it, still exists here today. This makes the success of this project more urgent to ourselves and the future of the black race. It is time for us to make the decisions that affect our future, time for us to be in control of our destiny and to tell our story in our own words'.

SOURCE: Material extracted from the Slave Route Project Press Kit, Department of Tourism, St. Kitts (September 2002).